Palatine woman celebrates 'rebirthday' with firefighters who saved her life

Brenda Glenn thanked Palatine firefighters Tuesday on her "rebirthday," exactly one year since they rushed to her home and saved her life after she went into cardiac arrest.

Glenn, 51, also noted the importance of CPR during the gathering at Palatine Fire Station 82 on Hicks Road. Her husband, Rolling Meadows High School special education teacher Mark Taylor, got the lifesaving ball rolling that day by performing CPR on Glenn in the couple's bedroom until firefighters arrived.

"I'm so thankful," said Glenn, who was accompanied Tuesday by her husband and two of the couple's children. "I know you guys save lives every day with what you're doing, but you saved my life and our family."

It was early in the morning on Aug. 6, 2018, when Glenn was trying to figure out the best route from her Palatine home to Romona Elementary School in Wilmette for her first day as a student-teacher. She was on the edge of the bed talking with her husband, who was in a nearby bathroom shaving.

"As we were talking, I stopped talking," said Glenn, who at the time had been married to Taylor for only about a month.

Taylor turned around and found his wife needing immediate help. He called 911 and, using skills he learned as a teenage lifeguard at North Avenue Beach in Chicago, performed the CPR for about two minutes before first responders arrived.

Police came first, followed by fire Capt. Scott Meservey, Lt. Keith VonderHeide and firefighters William Hildebrandt, Kevin Learch, Tom Novak, Adam Walsh and Brian Pelletreau.

"Just watching you guys work, it was a smooth operation," Taylor said.

Firefighters and department brass were at Station 82 on Tuesday to visit with Glenn and her family. She brought homemade cupcakes for what she called her "rebirthday."

"It was definitely cool to see this side of the story," Pelletreau said.

Glenn spent 12 days at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. She then went through about two months of physical and occupational therapy.

"And everywhere I went, the word 'miracle' got used," she told the firefighters. "Doctors said, 'You know you're a miracle, right?' I didn't really grasp what that really meant in context until I started doing research on cardiac arrest."

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 70% to 90% of those who suffer cardiac arrest die before reaching a hospital. Cardiac arrest is sudden loss of the heart's function.

CPR - either high quality or compression-only bystander CPR - and automated external defibrillator use immediately following cardiac arrest can reduce morbidity and save lives, according to the CDC. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation uses chest compressions to mimic how the heart pumps.

Glenn, who with her husband recently read the ambulance report for the call to save her, said it's unknown what caused the cardiac arrest. She soon will begin working as a librarian at Washington Elementary School in Glenview.

"And they really need me," she said of her new gig. "And I really need them. And I'm here for it."